In Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile networks, access to certain cells can be restricted to particular groups of users. Such a group of users is referred to as a close subscriber group (CSG). A particular cell in which access is restricted to a CSG, such as a femtocell served by a home Node-B (HNB) in a UMTS network or a home enhanced Node-B (HeNB) in an LTE network, is referred to as a CSG cell. When performing a handover to a CSG cell, a mobile station (also referred to herein as user equipment or a UE) performs an access check involving a CSG whitelist and public land mobile network (PLMN) identification information available at the mobile station to determine whether it is allowed to access the CSG cell. Network elements, or nodes, in the mobile network's core network also perform one or more access checks involving the CSG whitelist and available PLMN identification information to determine whether the mobile station is allowed to access the CSG cell. In general, the mobile station is not permitted to handover to the CSG cell unless all such access checks indicate that the mobile station is allowed to access the CSG cell.
Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like elements.